5x5x5

a pitch event like no other

Doyenne's 5x5x5 pitch contest highlights early-stage, women- and marginalized gender(s)-led scalable ventures from ALL business sectors

Apply Today

5 women-led ventures, 5 minutes to pitch, one receives a $5,000 grant

Doyenne hosts our 5x5x5 event approximately twice a year. The funds we award help founders take the next leap towards success, and/or position the company for initial investment opportunities.

Want to learn more before applying? Register for an upcoming Informational Session or watch the recording of a recent 5x5x5 Informational Session to learn more.

Pitch practice & coaching

All companies who are selected to present go through peer coaching pitch practices to formulate their venture's pitch and story. The relationships created through coaching sessions have been said to be more impactful than actually winning the grant by prior 5x5x5 competitors.

5x5x5 Application Form

Timeline & Requirements

Timeline for Applicants

Applications for Milwaukee will be accepted until Wednesday, March 18th, 2020
Applications for Madison will be accepted until Friday, June 12th, 2020
Presenters publicly announced two weeks after application deadlines
Register for an upcoming Q&A Session to learn more and ask your questions

Requirements for Applicants
(as of January 2022)

Wisconsin Headquartered, For-profit registered venture (Non-profits are not eligible for this opportunity)
Majority of shares owned by a woman/women co-founders or marginalized gender(s) (You can have males on your founder team, but they should not be majority shareholders)
Venture is scalable to a regional, national, or international market (Does not need to be at this stage to submit, but must be able to show scalability plan)
Must have evidence showing how the $5,000 will benefit venture
Venture shows innovation within its industry
Venture cannot have received funding from Doyenne through other funding opportunities (This includes Triple Threat Venture Training grants and past Evergreen Fund grant or equity investment recipients)
Applicants can re-apply for future events if they haven't won the event previously
Presenters must attend two pitch practice sessions - dates to be sent in email with selection notification
Presenters must agree to the Grant Agreement in order to receive the $5,000 grant. The agreement is sent to presenting ventures upon selection for them to review before committing to being part of program

Grantee Demographics

The grants awarded through the Doyenne 5x5x5 program are separate dollars from the Doyenne Evergreen Fund and provided from fundraising efforts throughout the community.

The following demographic information has been obtained when founders submit for the event and represents all founders from ventures who have been received a 5x5x5 grant, not just the presenter.

Past Presenters
(This section is correct on Production site, but not on sandbox)

2019 presenters:

Madison:

BlkBld & Co

MOSAIC Box – Grant Awardee

Goods Unite Us

EmberFoods

Venture with Impact

Milwaukee:

Forti

CalmLet

PumpHero

MySoulBrew

Colorful Connections – Grant Awardee

2018 Presenters:

Find My Spot

Protect Your Pumps – Grant Awardee

Scantribution

LocalThyme

Fill My Recipe

2017 PRESENTERS:

Classmunity
Lifebook
Pathogenomica – Grant Awardee
Pussyfoot Tape
Stimmi

2014 PRESENTERS:

2015 PRESENTERS:

2016 PRESENTERS:

who are the judges for this event?

The judges for the Doyenne 5x5x5 events are different for each event and comprised of Doyenne's community partners, allies, and corporate supporters.

CAn men participate in this event?

While Doyenne's 5x5x5 primarily focuses on supporting entrepreneurs who identify as women, we do allow ventures who have male co-founders to be selected & funded for the event, but we require the venture to have majority shares held by individuals who identify as women.

If I applied for a previous event, Do I need to re-apply?

Applications are taken through the button below in an ongoing process, but are reviewed for the event in which you are applying for based on the deadline date stated in the Timeline & Requirements section on this page. Your application does not roll over to another event and you must register for each event you wish to be considered for presenting at.

Who selects ventures to present at the 5x5x5 events?

A selection committee comprised of past 5x5x5 presenters volunteer their time to review and select the ventures who present at each event. Committee members review applications based on the requirements outlined in the Timeline & Requirements section above on this page.

Our current 5x5x5 selection committee demographics are:
Women - 100%
Black, Indigenous, Person of Color - 50%
Caucasian/White - 50%
LGBTQ+ - 17%

Other opportunities if you present at a 5x5x5 event?

If your venture is awarded the $5,000 grant through the 5x5x5 program you will be required to sign the Grant Agreement contract and provided necessary business & tax documents before receiving the award.

All Presenters of 5x5x5:
The 5 participants from each 5x5x5 event will be receiving a free 3 month, Twice per Month One Hour Coaching Sessions with Heather opportunity. Previously the grantee was required to partake in an upcoming Triple Threat Venture Training program and the other four participants weren’t awarded any opportunities beyond a free year of membership.

One Time Donor

Sustaining Donor